travel almanac

Images: Travel Almanac

I'm currently reading a fantastic new magazine called The Travel Almanc, which "explores the topics of traveling and temporary habitation from the personal perspectives of innovative figures in the fashion, music, art, and film worlds". The first issue features travel focused interviews with David Lynch, Terence Koh, Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and James Murphy; a feature on Ryokans, traditional Japanese guesthouses, hotel reviews, an essay on 'how to travel in modern times' and other small, quirky features. It's so simple but beautifully done - and it's giving me itchy feet!

pale ryder

[Images from the My Chameleon blog]

I await each new season of Benah accessories with excitement. The colours, the styles, the film and magazine that accompany - all suit me to a tee. This collection, for Summer 11/12, is my favourite yet. The soft seafoam green, travel and iPad cases that double as clutches, the gypsy Americana tan leather, the striped canvas. I wish I had one for my trip to the US - I leave in three hours! I am beyond excited.

colour woo yeah

Proenza Schouler in Vogue / Lime Crime / Ingrid Starnes s/s 11/12 /  pink on pink in Oyster / backstage at Miu Miu / Opening Ceremony

it's official

I just can't get enough of the rigid formality of official royal wedding portraits.

delayed reaction

Only just been introduced to the genius style of blogger/DJ/art seller/model/daughter-of Bip Ling. Umm, where have I been? Anyway, Alexa is dead to me.

thrill of the hunt

My company is looking after the publicity for a film about the life of Sam Hunt. If you're not from New Zealand, you might not know his work - he's a poet, and quite an incredible one at that. I've spent a few hours today reading his work. Here are some favourites, prefaced with an excerpt from the Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature.

His distinctive appearance —tall and rangy, usually wearing drainpipe trousers (‘Foxton Straights’ he calls them) and open-chested shirts, with long hair curling wildly above a weathered face—is complemented by the familiar gravelly drawl that has made him one of New Zealand’s most recognisable figures. Virtually single-handedly, Hunt has created a broad general audience for poetry; and if it was up to the crowds who flock to hear him on stage and the school pupils he has galvanised into enjoying verse, he would be the country’s poet laureate. The value of Hunt’s approach, suggests Alan Riach, is that ‘If poetry is performance then it’s also education. If you’re reaching people who have never been touched like that before, you’re in the business of teaching.’

Part of Hunt’s appeal is also his unabashed romanticism: ‘Romantics, so they say, / don’t ever die!’ (Second ‘Song’). He is, to quote one reviewer, a ‘freewheeling ordinary bloke, a kind of Kiwi Jack Kerouac, laconic— somewhat gauche—whose poems or "roadsongs" are direct and simple, surprised by their own powerful emotion.’


And here is a poem.

Winter Solstice Song by Sam Hunt

We can believe in miracles,
easy a day like this.
For five minutes at sunrise the sun
broke through, first time in weeks,
a kiss
I took to mean arrival
and five minutes up
fucked off.
                    But it is
the year's shortest day
when anything can happen,
miracles 'not a problem'.

The sun five minutes with us
came and left with a kiss.
We believe in miracles. That, love,
is all we have.

eat, drink and be merry

One of my favourite things to do in the world is cook. The nicest way to bring friends together is to make a huge meal, spending the entire day in the kitchen, trying new recipes, bringing people into your home, talking, laughing, drinking wine and creating new friendships. I spent my birthday doing just that, cooking all afternoon with the best kitchen partner ever. We were inspired by this birthday feast, to create one quite similar. We made a chickpea, pumpkin and apricot tagine; a chicken, preserved lemon and olive one; homemade labneh with harissa and Turkish bread; hummus; spinach dips; spiced couscous with raisins; a tomato and cucumber salad with rosewater; honeyed sweet potato salad; spiced Moroccan carrot salad; roast cumin cauliflower; fresh feta; fresh dates; Turkish delight; and an orange, red onion and black olive salad. There was lots of wine, lots of rum and lots of good music. So much so I forgot to take photos.

I read about Jim Haynes this morning on Katie's Thankyou, Ok blog. He's featured in the new issue of Apartamento, and I love his approach to entertaining. I would love to attend one of his Sunday Suppers one day! My next feast will come from the Ottolenghi cookbook my flatmate Maya gave me. There are so many beautiful recipes in there to try and I can't wait to get into the kitchen...

i love lisa eldridge

Despite my best efforts, the generous gifts from makeup companies and well, gosh, 27 years minus the 16 I wasn't allowed to wear makeup, that's 11 years of putting on a face about half the time which totals to quite a few hours... I can't really put make up on to save myself. I love being natural and not wearing any makeup most of the time, a little bit of tinted moisturiser, mascara and lip balm - and always, always cheek stain or blush. But for anything more - I need help. I found these videos today, courtesy of One Sleepless Night (she writes far more eloquently on the subject than I here). Aren't they fantastic!? Lisa Eldridge is subtle, beautiful and very, very good at making amazing make up. Here are my favourite videos - from  a pin-up look, to applying kitten eyeliner flicks, a sixties look and the hardest of all, how to do false lashes.

dresses and bouffants

My favourite pieces from Papercup's very pretty winter collection, Alphaville - inspired by SMTTY favourite Anna Karina.

two hands

I really like this combination - a cream knitted cardigan, red nails and crystal rings. It's from the Topshop blog. 

at home

I rarely get excited by homewares, but these Tracey Tawhiao coasters are making my heart skip a beat. They are so beautiful! They're from the wonderful webstore, Everyday Needs.

elsewhere: miss little lime

[all images by Miss Little Lime]

I love to read the travel adventures (New York, Paris), book recommendations and fashion thoughts of Miss Little Lime. She likes taking her own photos on film, Susan Sontag, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf, Oliver Sacks, Søren Kierkegaard, Paul Auster, Charles Bukowski, Albert Camus, Ernest Hemingway, J. D. Salinger, Françoise Sagan and Truman Capote. You'll adore her blog. You'll also love her Tumblr. 

we are all alone

Favourite pieces from Lonely Hearts Alone collection. I can't wait to wear these come summertime.

this is how we walk on the moon

I recently watched a documentary about musician Arthur Russell, Wild Combination. While he's becoming more well known, it was really the first time I fully understood the breadth of his work and his place in avant-garde music and the New York scene in the 1970s. A potted history below, a few excerpts and favourite songs - but for a full Arthur Russell experience I recommend watching this film. Not only is his work incredible and moving, his body of music almost incomprehensibly large (what a workaholic!), but it's also a touching insight into a middle American family who were suprisingly open minded and welcoming of his gay lifestyle, which they only became aware of when he was diagnosed as HIV positive. Most moving of all is his partner's role in keeping his memory and music alive.

Wild Combination is director Matt Wolf’s portrait of the seminal avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist, and disco producer Arthur Russell. Before his untimely death from AIDS in 1992, Arthur prolifically created music that spanned both pop and the transcendent possibilities of abstract art. Now, over fifteen years since his passing, Arthur's work is finally finding its audience. Wolf incorporates rare archival footage and commentary from Arthur's family, friends, and closest collaborators—including Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg—to tell this poignant and important story.

such a cliche

I know it's a cliche, but I love how Alexa dresses. Pink jeans, messy hair, jumpers, bare legs with flat shoes. There's nothing that can be said that hasn't been said before, and really, there's not that much to say - apart from eyeliner flicks, Topshop jeans, ballet flats, Mulberry, schoolboy jackets and pretty dresses.